Chapter 8

Later that night, Bashir and Dax huddled together in their favourite booth at Quark's. Another courageous, ill-fated holosuite battle lay behind them. The doctor was particularly agitated; however, his beloved hobby had failed miserably to calm him.

"What's wrong, Julian?" Dax asked, peering up into his troubled face.

"Have you managed to speak to Kira?"

She sighed heavily. "No. It seems that, as long as Rathaus is around, she never has the time. It's so unlike her."

Quark had walked up to take their drink orders. "If you ask me, nothing she's done since she left the station for her Bajoran retreat has been like her. She even came into the bar the other night to get advice from me. Marriage advice."

"That's certainly unlike her," the doctor mused, his forehead creased even further in concentration. "When was this, Quark?"

"While that husband of hers was on a business trip."

Jake walked by as Quark replied. "You guys talking about Colonel Kira?"

"That depends," Julian answered. "Is 'Jake Sisko the reporter' asking, or is 'Jake, long-time station resident and friend' asking?"

"I'm just asking as a friend. Though 'Jake the reporter', has found some information that may be of interest."

"Then join us," Bashir invited. "Just remember that everything said here is completely off the record."

"Of course," the young Sisko answered, taking a seat across from the couple. Quark remained standing at the head of the table.

"What's this information you mentioned?" Dax asked.

"It's not good. Rathaus has been married at least twice before, and both wives died under unusual circumstances. His first wife was a senior government official within the Federation and his second was a high priestess of some sort. Their deaths were officially ruled as accidental, but there are rumors that there might have been more to it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out much more than that. More information should be in the Federation News Archives, but it's not."

"That's more than I've been able to discover," Julian commented. "I've been trying to contact Ambassador Troi on Betazed, but she's been on holiday and can't be reached.

"I keep going over her fall in Ops today and it really concerns me. Rathaus made a quick movement just before she fell, but he was directly behind her and I couldn't see what he did."

"Do you think he pushed her?" Quark asked.

"Or tripped her – I just couldn't tell," the doctor answered. "What do you think, Ezri? You were there, too."

"Unfortunately, I was concentrating on the viewscreen when it happened. He looked very surprised when she fell, though he is a telepath of some sort. He could be capable of influencing us, sending out suggestions to make us perceive what he wants us to."

Quark finally sat down beside Jake. "I like this marriage less and less."

"We all do," Jake said. "The question is what are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing for now," Julian answered. "We don't have anything more than supposition. We need to gather more information before we do anything else."